Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 40

Devanagari script

कल्पनामादयो देवि दत्तस्याक्षयकारिकाः । तथा मन्वन्तरस्यादौ द्वादशैव वरानने

Transliteration

kalpanāmādayo devi dattasyākṣayakārikāḥ | tathā manvantarasyādau dvādaśaiva varānane

Translation

Ô Déesse, les jours de Kalpa et autres semblables rendent inépuisable le fruit du don; et de même, au commencement d’un Manvantara, il y a véritablement douze occasions d’excellence, ô toi au beau visage.

Word by Word

• kalpanā-ādi-ayaḥ: Kalpanā and others
• kalpanā-ādi-ayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalpanā (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘kalpanā etc.’ (ādi-समास)

• devi: O Goddess
• devi: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन

• dattasya: of a gift / of giving
• dattasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: datta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; ‘दान’

• akṣaya-kārikāḥ: causing imperishability
• akṣaya-kārikāḥ: Predicate adjective (Viśeṣaṇa)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: akṣaya (प्रातिपदिक) + kārikā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• tathā: also
• tathā: Samuccaya (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb; ‘also/likewise’)

• manvantarasya: of a Manvantara
• manvantarasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठī-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: manvantara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (प्रयोगे पुंवत्), षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

• ādau: at the beginning
• ādau: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; ‘at the beginning’

• dvādaśa: twelve
• dvādaśa: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvādaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्याशब्द; (here) प्रथमा बहुवचनार्थे ‘twelve’ (elliptic: tithayaḥ)

• eva: indeed/only
• eva: Avadhāraṇa (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• varānane: O fair-faced one
• varānane: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vara-ānana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; ‘beautiful-faced’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; address to a देवी/varānane indicates narration within Māhātmya dialogue)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devī is addressed; the speaker describes kalpādy and manvantarādy as supreme occasions. A cosmic diagram (kalpa wheel) overlays the Prabhāsa shrine landscape, linking macrocosm to pilgrimage practice.

Characters & Entities

• Kalpa
• Manvantara
• Dvādaśa (twelve)
• Dāna
• Devī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic cycles (Kalpa/Manvantara) sanctify particular moments; dharmic acts performed then become exceptionally enduring in merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching is embedded in Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya; the site’s sanctity is the implied backdrop for these prescriptions.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It commends dāna on Kalpa-related and Manvantara-beginning occasions, noting a set of twelve especially auspicious moments at Manvantara’s start.